France's Sports Minister Marina Ferrari has gone on record saying her country would consider a joint World Cup bid with Germany for 2038. That's a headline. But buried beneath the ambition is a problem neither country can wish away: FIFA's rotation policy says 2038 should go to CONCACAF or OFC. Europe isn't even supposed to be at the table.
Ferrari told Sud Radio's Le Grand Matin this week that the idea "has been around for a while," framing it as part of France's broader strategy to attract elite international sporting events. She pointed to the France-Germany co-hosted Handball World Cup in 2029 as a template. The logic is there. The eligibility, less so.
Why Europe Thinks It Has a Case
FIFA's rotation system has been in place since Germany 2006, designed to cycle the tournament across the six world confederations. With Europe hosting in 2030 (Spain, Portugal, Morocco — technically a cross-confederation bid), the argument goes that a UEFA nation co-hosting with a non-UEFA confederation could find a workaround. It's creative. It's also exactly the kind of loophole FIFA tends to close or ignore depending on who's asking.
France have genuine emotional stakes here. They hosted the 1998 edition — won it, too — and 2038 would mark exactly 100 years since France staged the 1938 World Cup, the third edition of the tournament. That centenary angle is the kind of narrative FIFA's marketing arm loves. It won't override the rules, but it's a card France will play loudly.
England and Italy are also reportedly weighing bids, independently or in some combination. So Europe could end up with four serious nations circling an edition they're technically not eligible for. That tells you something about how seriously anyone takes the rotation policy when the money and the stadiums are right.
What's Actually on the Table
FIFA haven't launched a formal bidding process for 2038 yet. President Gianni Infantino has reportedly floated expanding future tournaments from 48 to 64 teams — a scale that would demand the kind of infrastructure France and Germany already have in abundance. That's not coincidental positioning from Paris and Berlin.
- 2030 World Cup: Spain, Portugal, Morocco (with centenary games in South America)
- 2034 World Cup: Saudi Arabia
- 2038 World Cup: No formal bidding process opened yet
If Infantino does push for 64 teams, the hosting requirements become even more demanding — and the pool of viable candidates shrinks fast. A France-Germany bid starts looking less like an outlier and more like the obvious answer to a logistical question FIFA itself is creating.
The rotation policy will be the defining argument. It was bent for 2030 and quietly sidestepped for Saudi Arabia's 2034 award. Whether it holds for 2038 depends entirely on what FIFA decides to prioritize — and history suggests that's rarely the rulebook.
